


Spiraling

by YamiAki96



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Castiel, Bottom Dean, Dean/Cas Big Bang Challenge 2015, Demon possession, Exorcisms, Fluff, Haunted House, M/M, Mentions of Past Murders, Mini Bang, Scary situations, major character deaths, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-26 12:11:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5004343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YamiAki96/pseuds/YamiAki96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange occurrences start after Dean and Castiel move into their dream house, leading Castiel to believe that they may not be alone there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my very first DCBB! 
> 
> First, I need to send a huge thank you to freetobeyouandmichime on tumblr for making sure that this got finished. Thanks for being awesome!
> 
> Another thank you to my other wonderful beta, nightengaleghost.
> 
> I'd also like to think [Ideare](http://amanivuote.livejournal.com/5893.html#cutid1) for her amazing artwork!
> 
> And one more huge thanks to the mods of the [DCBB](http://deancasbigbang.livejournal.com/) for being so patient with me as a tried to figure everything out. You guys are awesome!

 


	2. Chapter 2

"You're going to love it, Cas,” Dean said for the millionth time. “It’s perfect.”

“It’s pretty far out,” Castiel responded, watching fields fly by out the window. “Are you sure you want to move so far way from the city?”

“Hell yes.” Castiel smiled and shook his head. Dean had been talking about this house for months and had finally convinced Castiel to go see it with him today. “There it is.”

The house was beautiful. Even with the white paint almost completely weathered away and the shutters and windows broken, it stood tall and proud over the yard. It was old, too. Victorian, Cas guessed, as he climbed out of the car.

“Come on.” Dean grabbed his hand and pulled him across the huge yard to the front door where a woman was waiting. Castiel recognized her as the realtor from the sign in the yard. She pushed open the door and led them inside.

“The house was built between the late seventeen hundreds and early eighteen hundreds,” She said as they walked in. “There are three floors, five bedrooms, two and a half baths. Of course there’s always room for additions.” Cas looked around them as she continued to talk.

The inside was nowhere near as beautiful as the out. There were holes and cracks in the plaster of the walls, along with graffiti everywhere. Beer cans, cigarette butts, and other teenage paraphernalia littered the floor. It was a complete wreck.

“The owner is selling as is. Price is negotiable, but he won’t accept less than one hundred and fifty thousand for the structure and the land.” Her phone rang and she checked the caller ID. “I have to take this. Feel free to look around.” She walked away with her phone to her ear.

“Let me show you around,” Dean said, tugging Cas’s hand. He had stopped by the house every time he drove by it and already had plans for what he wanted to do with it. He just hoped that Cas would be on board.

“Dean,” Cas started. Dean already knew what he was going to say. The house was rundown and it would take all of their savings just to buy it. The loans to fix it up would have them in debt for the rest of their lives. But Dean knew that this was the place for them.

“Just hear me out,” He said, leading him up the stairs. He opened a door that had a huge room behind it. “This would be our room. I could knock out the walls there and there to build a walk in bathroom and a bigger closet.” He pulled him down the hall and opened the door to a sun filled room.

“This could be your office, and there’s a room down the hall that I could work in so we wouldn’t be in each other’s way. We’d have room for Sam when he comes to visit. Colonel would have a yard.” Dean took Cas’s hands and looked at him earnestly. “Cas, I could make this the house of our dreams. The one we’ve always talked about having.” Castiel looked around at the peeling wallpaper and scratched up floors.

“Are you sure we can do this?” He asked, looking back at Dean. “I mean, you just opened the garage. Will you have time run it and do all this work?”

“It’s gonna take a while,” Dean admitted. “But I could probably get the guys to help out if I offered to pay them over time. And I could always hire a contractor if I need the extra help. I think that I could do it. If you want to.”

Cas thought about it. He had always wanted a big house, ever since he was kid. Their apartment in the city was getting smaller every day. They had only planned on living there for a few months after they got married, but a few had turned into almost two years. But what he was looking at now made their apartment look like heaven.

“I don’t know, Dean. Can you just give me a few days to think about it? Maybe let me do some research and get a guy out here to look around?” Dean looked a little disappointed, but nodded.

“If that’s what you need to do. But I’m telling you, this is the place for us.”

Castiel spent the next few days going through real estate websites and calling other realtors. He hired someone to check out the property to see if there was any other damage to the house and to get an estimate from an unbiased party.

“There doesn’t appear to be any serious damage,” The man told him when he was finished walking around the area. “However, I think you should negotiate for a lower price. In this economy, if you pay what the owner’s asking, you’d be getting robbed.

He gave Castiel his paperwork and estimate, then left. When Dean got home, Castiel showed him the papers and he called the realtor to discuss their options. The owner didn’t want to sell the house below the listed price, but Dean and Castiel were the only people interested in the house, so he had to agree to their offer of $120,000.

Dean took Castiel to see the house again after they got the verbal agreement from the owner, hoping to ease the doubts that he still had. He pulled him along, pointing out all of the things that he wanted to do and telling him all of the ideas that he had. The more excited he got, the more Castiel started to give in to him.

“Well?” Dean asked, when they stepped back out to the front porch. “What do you say?”

“Okay,” Cas said, giving in to Dean’s hopeful eyes. “Yes, let’s do. Let’s buy the house.”

Dean pulled him into an enthusiastic kiss that Cas returned wholeheartedly. This was why he fell in love with Dean in the first place. He had initiative and was tenacious when he wanted something.

“I’ll go tell her.” Dean kissed him again before walking down the front steps to the driveway where the realtor was waiting. Castiel sighed and looked around. He was already losing enough time with Dean since he opened the garage and adding these renovations would cost him even more, but it would be worth it, in the end. He hoped. He took one last look around the ruined space before following Dean’s path down the steps.

When they were home that night after all the papers had been signed and the check had been written, Dean wrapped Castiel up in his arms and kissed him.

“We bought a house today,” He said, smiling hugely. Castiel smiled back, unable to stop himself.

“I know. I think my hand is still cramping from all the signatures.”

“I know that you have doubts, but I promise you that it’s going to be everything that we ever wanted.”

“I believe you. Just don’t over do it okay? I don’t want to be living in that big house all by myself.” Dean smiled and kissed him again

Despite the celebratory sex, Castiel spent most of the night laying awake in bed, wondering if they had made the right decision.


	3. Chapter 3

Almost all of Dean’s spare time went into fixing up the house. Every day after he closed the garage, he and a group of guys that worked for him would go straight there and work until dark. A few of them helped him out on the weekends, too. Wednesdays and Fridays were the only free evenings that Dean and Castiel had to go over what they both wanted to do with the house when everything was ready. They had a nice little scrap book filled with ideas sitting on the coffee table.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Castiel asked one evening over the phone. “It’s my house, too. I can help.”

“No way. We had to pretty much gut the place. There’s all sorts of wires and junk laying around. It’s a death trap waiting to happen for a clumsy person like you.” Dean laughed, as though he could feel the face that Castiel was making through the phone.

“Okay. Just be careful. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Cas sighed as he hung up the phone. He wasn’t looking forward to another long evening alone in their apartment. Colonel whined a little from his dog bed, reminding Castiel that he wasn’t _completely_ alone.

“Do you want to go to the park?” The dog lifted his head and started to wag his tail when Castiel pushed himself off of the couch and slipped on his running shoes, then jumped up when Castiel picked up his leash.

Dean had had Colonel for years before he met Castiel, but the dog had somehow became more Castiel’s than his. They went everywhere together, mostly because Castiel felt bad leaving the dog alone all day, but also because Colonel followed him no matter where he went. The dog had several beds in random corners of Castiel’s bookstore because of this.

The park was full of other dogs, but Colonel wouldn’t move to play with them, even after Castiel removed his leash. Almost as if he sensed his owner’s tension, he whined and laid his head in Cas’s lap. Castiel scratched behind his ears and the dog let out a content huff.

Castiel didn’t want to go home to empty apartment again. He missed the afternoon walks that he and Dean used to take and watching bad TV while they ate dinner. Sitting there alone and doing paper work was boring.

He stood and hooked Colonel’s leash back on. They walked around the park a few times so that Colonel had a chance to relieve himself and got plenty of exercise. On their way home, they passed Castiel and Dean’s favorite pizza place, and Castiel got an idea. He dropped Colonel back at the apartment and filled his food and water bowls before leaving again.

Forty five minutes later he was pulling up to their house with four pizzas stacked in the seat beside him. He carried them inside and put them down on a mostly clean work table before going to look for Dean and the others. He found them upstairs knocking out walls in one of the bedrooms.

“Hey, guys!” The work stopped when Castiel shouted over the noise.

“Babe, what are you doing here?” Dean demanded, dropping his hammer and going to Cas’s side. He removed his hard hat and put it on Cas’s head. “I told you it wasn’t safe yet?” 

“Well now I’ve got a hat,” Cas responded. The others laughed a little and Cas smiled. “I bought some pizzas, I figured you guys would be hungry. They’re downstairs.”

There were choruses of ‘thank you’s as the guys went by, eager to get something to eat after working all day. Cas wandered further into the room, looking around.

“What do you think?” Dean asked, staying where he was. He wasn’t positive that everything was secure and didn’t want to risk anything falling on his head without his hat on to protect him. Cas shrugged.

“I really don’t know that much about construction. I trust your judgment, though.” Dean smiled and held out his hand.

“Come on, let’s go get some of that pizza before the guys eat it all.” Cas took his hand and followed him out of the room.

As they were walking down the stairs, Castiel felt a hand shove him hard and he tumbled forward. Luckily, they were almost at the foot of the stairs so all he suffered was a bruised ego. He looked up to see who had been behind them, but only saw Dean rushing towards him.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked, kneeling down beside him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Castiel answered, allowing Dean to pull him up.

“You have to be more careful,” Dean chasitized. “I don’t want you to end up in a body bag because you have two left feet.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Castiel couldn’t look away from the stairs. He knew that he had been shoved. He felt someone’s hands on his back, forcing him down. He shook his head and looked at Dean.

“Let’s just go get some dinner, okay?”

“Sounds good. I’m starved.”  Dean continued to talk about the renovations as they joined the others, but Castiel didn’t really hear him.

He was too focused on the feeling that someone was watching him from the stairwell.

~*~

After a few months, Dean finally deemed the house safe for Castiel. Along with the help of the others, he had rebuilt and plastered most of the walls, replaced the ruined windows, fixed the weaker areas of the floor and cleaned out the trash that had been left behind.

There was a fresh coat of white paint on the exterior that set off the dark blue shutters on the windows. The rotting boards on the wrap around porch had been replaced, along with ruined screened storm door. Now gleaming dark wood accented the decorative glass door Castiel had chosen several weeks before.

“Wow,” Castiel said, remembering how horrible it looked before. “Dean, this is beautiful.”

“Let me show you around.” Dean grabbed his hand and dragged him into the house.

The smell of fresh paint permeated the air. The walls that had once been hole filled and covered with graffiti were now painted in different shades of white, blue, and green. The kitchen was all stainless and sunlight, the living room had leather furniture and hardwood floors.

“I love it,” Castiel said, wrapping his arms around Dean’s neck. It was exactly what they both wanted, what Castiel had always dreamed of.

“Let me show you upstairs,” Dean murmured, kissing Castiel quickly before leading him to the second floor. All of the doors were closed.

“Here’s the bedroom,” He said, opening the door with a flourish that made Castiel smile. The room made Castiel think of the sky. The walls were light blue and the curtains, bed, and carpet were all white, accented by dark wood.

“It’s perfect, Dean,” Castiel said, walking further into the room. He could see into the adjoined bathroom through the doorway, fixtures gleaming white and silver in the sunlight flooding through the window. Dean took his hand.

“I have one more thing to show you,” He said, pulling him out of the room. They stopped down the hall and Dean twisted a doorknob.

“This is your office,” Dean said, pushing one open.

The room was meant to be a guest room, but Dean had turned it into the perfect workspace for Castiel. There was a desk, a filing cabinet, whiteboards, and it also had a adjoined bathroom. There was a door leading out onto the large balcony that let in enough natural light that Castiel would barely ever have to use the artificial ones in the room.

“I love it,” He said, putting his arms around Dean’s neck. “I love all of it. Thank you for doing all of this.”

“Thank you for believing that I could,” Dean murmured before leaning down to kiss him. Castiel opened his mouth to let Dean’s tongue in and sighed against his lips. Dean tugged him closer, grinding their hips together.

“Desk,” Dean panted, when he pulled away. Castiel moved backward, ready to pull himself up onto it, but Dean stopped him, spinning him around and bending him over it. “I want you like this. Take your pants off and bend over."

Castiel undid his belt with fumbling fingers, then struggled with the button on his jeans until Dean’s fingers knocked his out of the way. He undid the button and the zipper before pulling his pants and underwear down. He put a gentle hand on Castiel's back to push him forward. Castiel leaned over the desk, gripping the edge.

He moaned when Dean pressed up against him, slowly pushing inside of him. Dean started at a slow pace, but quickly picked up the speed, pulling Castiel up to kiss and bite at his neck.

"So good," Dean breathed against his skin. "Oh, fuck."

Castiel cried out his release, falling back over the desk. Dean followed close behind him, collapsing against Castiel's back. He pressed soft kisses to the tan skin there while they both came down from their post-orgasm euphoria.

"Welcome home," Dean breathed, causing Castiel to laugh. Dean kissed him and stood up, pulling his pants back on. Castiel followed suit, then looked at the mess left behind on his desk. Dean saw where was looking and smirked.

"You should clean that up before it dries." Castiel frowned at him. He grabbed Dean's t-shirt from the floor and wiped it up. He laughed at the indignant look on Dean's face

“All clean,” He smirked, tossing the shirt at Dean. “Welcome home.”

~*~

“All we have to do now is move in,” Dean said, throwing himself onto the couch. Now that he was done remodeling, he just wanted to relax. Castiel came out of the kitchen with two beers and joined him.

“Is it weird that I’m going to miss this place?” He asked, leaning into Dean’s chest. Dean’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and squeezed tightly.

“Of course not. We started our life together here. But we’re starting a new stage in our life now.”

“I guess you’re right.” Castiel tilted his head up and Dean kissed him.

When the kiss ended, Dean turned on the TV and settled in like he planned to be there for a while. Castiel pulled his legs up onto the couch and got comfortable, too, but he couldn’t focus on the television. Instead, he looked at the room around him. When they moved in the apartment had been lifeless, but now pictures covered the walls, miscellaneous items covered almost every surface, Colonel’s toys laid scattered in the floor for Dean to step on and curse when they squeaked. Their whole married life had been spent in these few tiny rooms, he just couldn’t imagine anyone else living there.

But Dean was right. The house would be another beginning for them. They both wanted a big family, so they knew that they were going to need a bigger place one day. Now they had time to make it their own before they talked about kids again.

Castiel pushed the thought from his mind and turned his attention back to whatever Dean was watching. After all, they had plenty of time before they had to worry about that.


	4. Chapter 4

“Why do we have so many dishes? There are only two of us.”

Castiel laughed a little as he placed an empty box on the counter beside Dean. He moved the one he just filled and taped it shut before labeling it DISHES and setting it aside.

“Probably because we didn’t register for anything when we got married and no one knew what to buy,” He said. Dean grumbled and started wrapping plates in bubble wrap. “Is this really the last room?”

“Yep, other than what’s left in our bedroom. After we’re done in there we can officially say this place is back on the market.”

“I’ll go start, then.” He rubbed his hand over Dean’s back for a moment before picking up another box and walking down the hall.

The apartment was barren, other than the huge pile of boxes in the living room floor. Dean and Benny had moved most of the furniture out the day before, leaving nothing but dusty floors in their wake. They would have to come back and dismantle the bedroom later.

Castiel started with their closet and dresser, pulling out things that he had honestly forgotten that they had. The items covering the top of their dresser and in the drawers of their nightstands went next. Dean’s arms wrapped around him from behind as he was taping it shut.

“What do you say to one last roll in the hay before we kiss this place goodbye?” Dean asked, pressing his lips to the sensitive spot on the side of Castiel’s neck. The smaller man sighed and tilted his head, giving him better access.

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” He answered, turning in Dean’s arms to kiss him properly.

Dean’s arms tightened around him as he lifted him off the ground. Castiel wrapped his legs around Dean’s waist as he laid them down. With a seductive smile, Dean moved to straddle Castiel. He watched his husband's eyes flutter shut as their groins brushed together. A soft groan slipped from Castiel’s lips. Dean leaned down slowly draw a path from Castiel's chest down his stomach, postponing the moment that Cas was waiting for just a little bit longer. Much to his surprise, Castiel cupped the back of his head and pulled him up for a deep kiss. It wasn’t gentle, like the ones before. It was deep and hard and wet and lasted until they both had to breathe again. Even then, both were reluctant to stop kissing and as Dean looked at Castiel, his lips wet and shining in the soft light, he seemed undecided about what to do next.

“I remember you promising me to serve me?” Castiel said as his hands moved up and down Dean’s back, his pupils widened to a point where his eyes seemed almost black. “You might want to do that now.”

Dean nodded with a smile that Castiel could only describe as naughty and that somehow turned him on even more. The fact that his husband wanted to do this made it better than he ever had thought it would be.

His eyes on Dean’s face, he watched intently as his lover slid down his body, using hands and lips and tongue to slowly set him even more on fire. It seemed like an eternity before Dean lips finally hovered above the tip of his erection and Castiel couldn’t breathe as he waited for Dean took take him in his mouth.

Dean looked at him from under his lashes and kept his eyes locked with Castiel's as he finally, finally, wet his lips before taking him into his mouth. The first time Dean had done this, Castiel had felt a release of tension after not having anyone in his bed for far too long but now, now he was more focused on the way Dean was serving him, it felt even better than before.

Dean drew it out for as long as he could manage by taking Castiel deep into his mouth one moment and just lightly moving his lips over the tip of Castiel’s cock the next, making him groan in frustration. Dean chuckled and that alone sent shivers through Castiel’s entire body.  But what finally made him come wasn’t just the way Dean sucked on his hard flesh, it was just as much the way he felt Dean grind his own erection against Castiel’s leg without him even being fully aware of it, or so it seemed. The fact that Dean had grown this hard just from pleasuring sent him over the edge.

He came deep inside Dean's mouth, his hand that had moved to Dean hair without him even realizing it tightening a little around the dark curls at the back of Dean neck as a shuddering moan fell from his lips. Dean held him in his mouth until Castiel had rode out his orgasm before releasing him again.

As Castiel opened his eyes again, the blue orbs now looking slightly dazed as he felt a drowsiness come over him, he took Dean's hand, just close enough to reach, and pulled him up again so that he was lying on top of him.

“I'd like to take care of you now," He said softly as he rolled them a bit so they were lying on their sides, facing each other.

“You don’t have to do that Cas,” Dean moaned as their hands explored each other’s bodies.

“It’s the last time in our apartment. I want our last memory of this place to be perfect.”

“It is perfect. I’m with you.”

“You’re such a sap, Dean,” Castiel teased before he leaned in close and kissed his husband.  “Now, do you want my ass tonight?”

“You dirty, little angel,” Dean groaned before he rolled onto his stomach.  “No, I want you in mine.”  He lifted his ass into the air and wiggled his butt.  “Come on, big boy.”

Castiel laughed at Dean’s joke but gave that glorious butt a swat for good measure. He walked over to the boxes he just packed and dug out their lube.

“Do you want a condom?” He asked. Dean didn’t bottom often, so when he did, Castiel tried to take special care of him.

“We haven’t used one in a while. We can skip it tonight."

“Okay,” Castiel nodded before he gently pushed Dean’s hips down so he was flat on the mattress. He leaned over and kissed the center of Dean’s back, in between his shoulder blades, then nibbled his way down to Dean’s butt.  

“I love you.”  Castiel told him in between the kisses.  “I’m going to stretch you now.”  He warned, before he eased a single finger gently into Dean.

“I love you, too." Dean moaned. He turned his head so that he could watch as Castiel's opened him with his fingers. Seeing his husband lying between his legs, fully focused on the way Dean felt around his finger sent a surge of lust through him.  “Cas?”

"Yes, Dean?" Castiel answered, his eyes moving to Dean’s face now. He knew his husband wasn’t in any pain or he would have felt some tension in the muscles under his hand or around his finger, yet he didn’t quite understand the nervous look in Dean eyes.

He moved his finger deeper inside Dean again and much to his relief saw his eyes flutter shutter shut as he tilted his head back in pleasure. It made Castiel want him even more now he saw how responsive Dean could be once someone actually minded his needs, too.

"Dean?" He repeated with a barely perceptible grin around his lips. "You were saying?"

Dean opened his eyes again, blinking to focus as he smiled lustfully at his husband. "I think you can add a second one," Dean said in a throaty voice, still feeling awkward for even suggesting it.

Castiel playfully bit his buttock before licking over the spot right after, distracting Dean once more as he did what his husband asked and added another finger. This time, after moving in and out a few times and changing his angle a little with each time, he managed to locate Dean prostate. Dean's body suddenly jerked a bit as a soft moan sounded that was muffled by the pillow.

“Damn it, Cas!” The man moaned as he arched his back. “If you keep that up, I’m going to come without your dick in my ass!" 

“Want to see how skilled I am with my fingers?”  Castiel teased wiggling the two digits around for good measure.

“No, you dick. I know how good you are with your fingers,” Dean  moaned, grabbing two handfuls of sheets.  “I love your fingers, but your dick is even better.”

“You’re never patient, love,” Castiel slapped Dean’s butt with his free hand before he added a third finger. “I want to stretch you good. I love this part. Watching you wiggle and writhe around, begging for more. You have no idea how great you look.”

“Dick, ass, now!” Dean demanded, which made Castiel chuckle.

“Yes, my love.” 

As slowly as he could manage, Castiel pushed inside Dean. He stopping after every inch and only went further when Dean pushed back in a silent plea for Castiel to continue. Despite his urging, Castiel tried to keep going as slow as he could, fighting the need to bury himself deep inside his husband and feel the tight heat grip him and draw him in further. There would be plenty of time for that later, now he wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t hurt Dean. With every inch his resolve started to weaken and by the time he was fully sheathed, he could do nothing but wrap his arms around Dean and hold him tight against his chest, breathing hard and remaining completely still for a moment. This part always felt wonderful, this coupling with Dean and this connection he felt with the only man loved in the home they built for themselves. Finally, when he couldn’t stay still any longer, he pulled out and pushed back inside again and was immediately rewarded with a moan of pleasure that tore from Dean. 

“So good,” Dean moaned when Castiel was finally moving. All he felt was the incredible sensation of having Castiel inside him and a pair of strong arms holding him in place. It felt so perfect, so arousing, that Dean would have been happy to stay here all night and doing this until neither of them could move anymore. His heart nearly thudded out of his chest every time he felt Cas’s cock drag over his prostate. He was glad that Castiel had told him he didn’t have to stay quiet because there was just no way to reign in the moans that kept falling from his lips.  Since they were moving out the next day, they decided to make all the noise they wanted, and to hell with their neighbors.

Castiel’s head rested on the back of Dean's neck, kissing and nipping at the skin in an attempt to get even closer. He could see Dean’ hands, clutching the pillow one moment then moving back to touch Castiel wherever he could reach him. It was a sweet torture to Castiel, and the feeling of Dean’s hands sliding down his sides, touching his ass and thighs, only enhanced his arousal. He didn’t want to close his eyes lose the sight of his husband, this almost divine beauty, coming apart in his arms. He wanted to witness every single second, even if that would mean it would be over too soon. A loud groan escaped him as he felt Dean tighten around his cock, a sign that he was rapidly approaching his climax, too.

Dean gasped for breath as he felt himself teeter on the edge of a powerful orgasm. Every thrust made him slide over the sheets giving delicious friction on his cock and the feeling of Castiel pushing inside him a bit harder and rougher, clearly losing his control, as well as the feeling of Castiel’s weight on top of him made it incredibly hard for him to hang on any longer.

"Cas," He gasped, turning his head, wanting to say so much yet unable to find the words to express how incredibly good this felt. His eyes were heavy-lidded from arousal and his mouth was hanging open a little as he struggled to speak. Whatever he wanted to say was cut off by the kiss that landed on his lips, a kiss that made the connection even deeper and even more perfect and oh God so hot that there was no holding back anymore.

Moving together, Dean pushing back as much as he could every time Castiel thrust inside him, they hurdled into their orgasms. Castiel could see and feel the tensing of Dean’s muscles as he came, then he collapsed onto their mattress with a soft moan falling from his full lips, still wet and swollen from their last kiss. The sight was too much for Castiel and he immediately followed, thrusting blindly into Dean until he came deep inside of him. He fell down heavily on top of Dean, feeling boneless and unwilling to move away from him just yet.

Dean floated from all that had happened just now. He felt a whirlwind of emotions that all seemed to hit him at the exact same moment.  He felt Castiel start to move off of him and reached back to try and stop his lover from moving away from him yet. He heard soft laughter rumble close to his ear.

“You’re so needy. I love how you look right now. I should take a picture,” Castiel teased before he gently pulled out and settled down next to Dean. “I’ll miss this,” He admitted, after a long moment.

“We’ll still have sex in the house, you goof.” 

“Not the sex,” Castiel answered before he looked up at the ceiling.  “I’ll miss all the little quirks this place has. The too thin walls, the squeaky doors, things like that.”

“We’ll find new quirks,” Dean said, lifting himself up on his elbows. “We should get dressed. Benny will be here any time.” Castiel nodded, but neither of them made a move.

“Dean?”

“Hm?”

“What am I supposed to do with these sheets now?”

Dean laughed so hard that Castiel had join in.

~*~

The first thing that Castiel did when he pulled up in front of the house was let Colonel out of the car. He knew how much the dog hated to go in his cage, but he was also prone to car sickness and it was a lot easier to spray out the bottom of the cage than it was to clean the seats.

“Come on, bud,” He said, pulling the cage out of the car and carrying it with him to the house. Colonel followed him for a moment then stopped. The dog let out a quiet whine and barked.

“What’s wrong?” Castiel asked, pausing for a moment. Colonel put himself in front of him and barked again. Castiel frowned, he had never seen Colonel act that way. He moved to step around him, but the dog moved with him, still blocking his path. “Colonel, quit it.”

He maneuvered his way around the dog and up to the porch. Colonel followed behind him with his ears flat against his head.  He stopped at the stairs and barked again as Castiel opened the front door to put the cage inside.

“That’s enough,” Castiel chastised. “Come on, get in the house.” Colonel took a step forward, then stopped and ran away toward the back yard. “Colonel!”

Castiel waited, but the dog didn’t come back. He sighed in frustration, then went back to the car to get the boxes that he had brought out of the back seat.

He was just walking back outside when the moving truck they had rented pulled into the drive. He stayed on the porch until Dean had the truck backed close to the house.

“Hey there, Cas,” Benny called, hopping out of the cab. He came around and opened the back of the truck before climbing up and picking a box up.

“Hey, Benny,” Cas said, reaching up to take the box from him. “Just leave these in the front room.”

“Will do."

Between the three of them, they had the truck unloaded in no time. The living room floor was covered in boxes, stacked taller than Castiel was, just waiting to be unpacked again.

“Thanks for the help, brother,” Dean told Benny when they were finished. “You want a beer?” Benny shook his head.

“Nah, I need to get the truck back before you get charged an extra day and I’m sure you two want to get settled in. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” They said their goodbyes and Benny left.

“I say we leave these here until tomorrow,” Dean said, wrapping his arms around Cas from behind. “Order pizza, drink a few beers, break in our new bed.”

“Sounds good to me,” Castiel said, leaning back against his chest.

A few hours later, Castiel slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Dean’s sleep. He picked a shirt up off of the floor and put in on, along with the closest pair of underwear. He walked down the stairs to the kitchen and got a glass of water.

He wandered from room to room, taking in the place by himself. He couldn’t wait to start unpacking and make the place his and Dean’s. He walked to the back door and looked out of the glass at the large stretch of yard.

“What are you doing up?” Castiel jumped when Dean’s arms wrapped around him from behind. Castiel placed a hand over his arm.

“Have you seen Colonel?” Dean shook his head.

“He’s probably just enjoying being able to run around without a leash. He’ll come home when he’s ready.” Dean said, pulling Castiel away from the door.

As they walked back up the stairs, Castiel couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two mentions in this chapter of unwanted sexual advances. Nothing too bad, so there is no tag. Please let me know if I need to fix that.

The first few days in the new house were spent unpacking the countless boxes that were piled up in the living room. Dean set up his old record player in the foyer so that the music would echo around the house as they worked.

One day, Castiel was putting away clothes in the bedroom while Dean was at work. It was the first time that he had been alone in the house and it was actually very peaceful. There were no loud neighbors, no traffic, just the sounds of the fabric he was folding and an occasional bark from Colonel somewhere in the woods. Castiel jumped when the silence was broken by a loud bang downstairs.

"Dean?" His husband wasn't supposed to be back for another few hours, but Castiel couldn't think of anyone else that would be in the house. When no one answered his call, he put the shirt he was holding down and went to the top of the stairs. "Dean, is that you?"

Another bang sounded. Castiel frowned and walked down the stairs, holding tight to the railing. The noise became more constant as he followed it through the house, to the laundry room at the end of the hall. As Castiel got closer, he thought he heard voices as well. He reached for the doorknob and piercing screech filled his ears.

Castiel jerked back from the door, wanting to run back down the hall, but he was frozen in place. He reached out again and pushed the door open, barely reaching in to turn on the light.

Water was pouring out of the washing machine. Castiel rushed forward to shut the water off. When the stream finally stopped, he grabbed as many towels as he could to start soaking up the water.

“What happened?” He looked up when he heard Dean’s voice. His husband was standing in the doorway, looking confused.

“I don’t know. There was water pouring out of it so I turned the main off.”

“What?” Dean walked into the room and pulled the machine out from the wall. Castiel watched as Dean checked tubes and wires. “There’s no way. I just installed it. Everything is new. Maybe you just didn’t close the door all the way or something.”

“Yeah,” Castiel said, even though he hadn’t touched the washing machine all day. “Maybe that's it.”

"You've got to be more careful, Cas. You're always doing this. You're going to burn the house down one of these days."

"I know. I'm sorry." Dean smiled and stood back up. He took Castiel into his arms and kissed his hair.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asked, jokingly.

Castiel hugged him back and didn't answer.

~*~

It was still dark when Castiel woke up. He laid in a groggy haze until he realized what it was that pulled him from sleep to begin with. Loud scratching sounds were coming from the other side of their bedroom door. He sat, wide awake. It sounded like something was trying to get into their room.

“Dean,” He said, shaking Dean’s shoulder. Dean mumbled something unintelligible and rolled onto his side. “Dean, wake up!”

“What?” The other man demanded, not opening his eyes.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The scratching?” There was a long pause filled with complete silence.

“You were dreaming. Go back to sleep.” Dean rolled over again, taking most of the covers with him. Castiel hesitated before he laid down, too. As soon as he closed his eyes, the scratching started again.

“Do you hear it now?”

“It’s probably just Colonel or a mouse or something,” Dean said, irritation plain in his voice. “Just ignore it.”

Despite his best efforts, Castiel spent the rest of the night looking up at the ceiling, hoping that the door was strong enough to keep whatever it was out.

~*~

Castiel walked into the house, happy to be home from work. He dropped his bag by the door and loosened his tie, debating whether he wanted a beer or a glass of wine when goosebumps raised all over his body. The house was freezing.

He pulled his suit jacket tighter around himself as he walked across the living room to check the thermostat. It was set at the usual seventy three degrees that he and Dean were both comfortable with. He shivered and turned away, going up the stairs to pull on some warmer clothes.

He found one of Dean’s old high school sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants. He tugged them on and removed his watch before leaving the room. Just as he flipped the bedroom light off, he thought he saw something move by the window. He turned the light on and looked again, but there was nothing there and curtains were still.

He shook his head and turned the light off again. The move was making him crazy.

By the time Dean got home an hour later, the house had warmed up again. He still requested that his husband check the system, just in case there was a problem.

“First the washing machine and now the AC,” Dean said, amusement lighting his eyes. “This is why we can’t have nice things, Cas.”

“Very funny. Just go check or you might come home to a Cas-sicle.”

“Can’t say I wouldn’t mind a taste of that,” Dean said, winking at him before heading toward the basement steps. Castiel shook his head and returned to the kitchen to get dinner out of the oven. Dean returned a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around Castiel, turning him around so that they were face to face.

“No issues with the system. You’re not getting sick are you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.” Dean started to untie the drawstrings on Castiel’s pants, tugging a little at the waistband.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Having a Cas-sicle before dinner.”

Castiel’s laugh turned to a low moan when Dean dropped to his knees.

~*~

“This place is gorgeous,” Bela said, looking around as she walked in, slipping her coat off and shoving it into Castiel’s arms. “You should send Dean around to do some work for me.”

“Right, I’ll do that,” Castiel said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He threw the coat in a pile with all of the others. Before she could say anything else, Bela spotted the alcohol set up on a table behind him and pushed Castiel aside to get to it. That time, Castiel did roll his eyes.

The housewarming party was Jo's idea. She said she wanted a chance to see the house that had wrapped up so many of her boyfriend's afternoons in person to see if it was really worth all of the lost time. Castiel wasn't interested at all, but he agreed, mostly because he didn’t want to face her wrath if he’d said no.

Dean was across the room, talking to some of his friends. He caught Castiel’s eye and winked, earning a smile in return. Castiel went to get himself a drink before their guest emptied all of the bottles.

“Cassie.” Castiel turned around, almost running into Balthazar he stood so close behind him.

“Hey, Balth. Enjoying yourself?”

“Yes. Quite the place you have here.”

“Yeah, it’s...something.”

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.” Castiel sighed.

“It’s just a big change,” He explained. “Uncomfortably big.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Balthazar promised. He looked like he was going to say something else, but he stopped. “Who is that?”

Castiel turned to see who he was talking about. There was a woman going up the stairs, wearing a dress that looked like it had seen better days. Castiel couldn’t see her face, but he was sure that they didn’t know her.

“I don’t know. But I’ll find out.” Castiel went upstairs, Balthazar following close behind him.

They checked all of the rooms, but the woman was nowhere to be found.

“Are you sure that this is the only way she could have come back down?” Balthazar asked as they descended the stairs again.

“Unless she went out a window.”

Castiel spent the rest of the night feeling on edge. It would have different if he’d been the only one to see the woman, but Balthazar seeing her too made it more difficult to disregard. By the time the party ended, Castiel had half tricked himself into believing that she had just been a guest that he didn’t recognize trying to find a bathroom.

“What were you and Balthazar doing up here earlier?” Dean asked, as they got ready for bed.

“I was just showing him around,” Castiel shrugged. He didn’t want to tell Dean about the woman and have him think that he was crazy.

“Right,” Dean smiled. With a sly, sexy twinkle in his eye, he moved around the bed and slid his hands over Castiel's hip. "Do you know how hot you looked all night? Those pants just hugged your ass." He teased as his hands slid over Castiel's hips, then drifted down to his butt. Castiel squeaked when Dean grabbed his ass. He heard Dean laugh lightly as he pulled him closer.

"You're one to talk. You know how much I love you in that shirt. You stayed away from me all night on purpose, didn't you?"

Dean leaned forward and playfully nipped at Castiel's nose before he kissed his husband's lips. "Maybe I wanted to make sure you're still attracted to me. You know we've been married a long time, and sometimes, I need to know there's still a spark."

Castiel kissed him again, then tilted his head as if in thought. "No spark," He finally said. "It's a full on inferno. It always has been."

Dean couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth. "You're such a dork."

"And you love me anyway," Castiel ran his fingers through Dean's short hair before he linked his fingers behind his husband's neck. "I love you," he whispered before he kissed Dean.

"I love you, too," Dean murmured. "You really did look gorgeous tonight. I couldn't keep my eyes off of you."

Castiel playfully tugged on Dean's head trying to get the other man to come to bed with him. "I have to admit, I'm glad we're alone now. The party was nice but just us is better."

"Mm, I can't disagree with that." Dean pushed Castiel back onto their mattress and settled down on top of him.

Castiel found the hem of Dean's shirt and slid his fingers underneath it, pulling it up then off of the other man. "At least we don't have to worry about the neighbors hearing us." He teased before he lifted himself up and kissed him again.

“I fucking hated them," Dean said, unbuckling Castiel's belt and pulling it off. "Remember how they'd always bang on the wall if we had the TV too loud, but if we did it to them they called the super?" He undid Cas's fly and lifted his hips to tug his pants down. "I definitely don't miss apartment life."

"That place was home for a long time though," Castiel admitted before he dragged his fingertips lightly over the expanse of Dean's bare back. "Remember our first Christmas there? The super didn't let us have a real tree and we had to use that ugly artificial one with the broken stand?"

"Oh, Jesus," Dean laughed. "And it fell on you while we were opening presents."

"At least it didn't weigh much," Castiel teased as he rubbed the back of his head, "and we didn't spend much of our time in the emergency room. That would have sucked."

"We did have some good moments there," Dean nodded. "But that doesn't mean I miss it one bit." Castiel agreed before he rolled his hips against Dean's, causing Dean to groan and drop his head against Castiel’s collarbone.

Castiel breathed in Dean's scent as he wrapped his arms around his lover's shoulders. He thought about telling Dean about the strange women he and Balthazar saw. He needed to tell Dean; needed to share this with him. "Did you know the woman that came upstairs at the party?"

"What woman?" Dean asked, sucking a bruise onto Castiel's collarbone.

"The women in the messy clothes," Castiel explained as he tilted his head giving Dean a bit more exposure to his neck. "She came up here. I looked for her but I didn't see her again."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you just saw a shadow or something."

“Balthazar saw her too," Castiel continued. "I know I saw her Dean. Was she someone Jo knows?"

"Jo didn't invite anyone we don't know. And can you really trust anything Balthazar says? I mean, dude downed a whole bottle of tequila by himself."

"Dean, I saw her," Castiel pushed the issue then nudged Dean away from his collarbone. "I'm serious. Balthazar and I saw her."

"Can we stop talking about him?" Dean snapped.

Castiel's mouth hung open in shock at Dean's tone. "I'm not talking about Balthazar, Dean. I'm talking about the woman. There was a stranger in the house. Don't you want to know who she was?"

"There was no woman. You just wanted to bring him up here. You wanted to be alone with him." Dean's hands tightened on his hips until they were almost bruising.

"Dean," Castiel pushed against Dean's chest trying to get him off. "Get off me!"

Dean grabbed his wrist and pinned them by his head, holding his hips down with his thighs. "You're mine, Castiel"

"Dean, stop it!" Castiel shouted as he pulled his wrists out of Dean's grip. "What the hell has gotten into you!"

"I could ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer," Dean spat. "I see the way you look at him. But you married me, you're mine. He can't have you."

Castiel pushed Dean hard enough that the other went sprawling backward on the bed. "You don't fucking own me Dean. I'm not your property!" He climbed out of the bed and grabbed his pants from the floor. "I'm sleeping in the guest room," He snapped before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

Dean stared at the door for a long time, trying to figure out what had just happened. He got out of bed and went down the stairs to the guest room. The door was locked so he knocked lightly.

“Cas? Cas, please talk to me.” When he didn’t get an answer, he pressed his forehead against the cool wood and continued. “I don’t know what came over me, Cas. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please come back to bed."

Castiel sat on the bed in the guest room listening to Dean on the other side of the door. He didn't want to hear an apology right now. He didn't know what happened in their bedroom but he wasn't about to have it happen again. Dean waited for a long time, begging Castiel to open the door and talk to him. After a while, he gave up.

"I really am sorry, baby," He said, before leaving to go back upstairs.

Castiel stared at the door listening to Dean try to apologize over and over again. He stayed in the guest room for several hours after he heard Dean leave. He tried to go to sleep, but after a while the scratching started up and unexplainable thumps seemed to come from all around. Eventually, Castiel couldn't stand it, he got out of the bed and ran up to his and Dean's bedroom, diving under the blankets and hiding his face against Dean's back.

"Cas?" He asked sleepily. "What's wrong? You're shaking."

"I just freaked myself," Castiel lied, not wanting to fight anymore. "Go back to sleep."

Dean rolled over onto his side so he was facing Castiel. He pulled the other man into his arms and held him close. Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean's middle, reasoning that cuddling wasn't the same as forgiving. He pressed his face against Dean's chest and let his familiar scent and the sound of his heartbeat lull him to sleep.

~*~

Castiel came home from work wanting nothing more than a glass of wine and a hot shower.

While his bookstore usually had a steady stream of customers coming in to buy and sell books, the end of the summer was always overly busy. College kids were looking for cheap textbooks and other reading materials and every high schooler in the school district was looking for the same books so he had to keep ordering them. He’d spent the whole day running around and was ready for a break.

He stood under the hot spray of the shower until all his muscles were relaxed and the water was starting to get cold. He walked into the bedroom and pulled one of Dean’s shirts from the closet and tugged on a pair of shorts. After he was dressed, he went to the kitchen and poured his wine. One glass led to another and before long Castiel felt warm and drowsy. The garage would still be open for a few hours, so he figured a short nap before Dean’s got home wouldn’t hurt. He went back upstairs and curled up in the middle of their bed, drifting into sleep quickly.

Castiel woke up to a cold hand sliding up his leg. He grumbled and shifted away, nuzzling deeper into his pillow. A moment later, the hand was on him again, fingers slipping under the leg of his shorts.

“Dean, stop,” He grumbled, swatting sleepily in his direction. He’d had a long day and he wasn’t in the mood to fool around. The hand traveled up to his ass and squeezed hard. “Dean!”

Castiel sat all the way up to tell Dean to keep his hands to himself or sleep in the guest room, only to find the other side of the bed empty. He looked around the room, but didn’t see him anywhere.

“Dean? Dean, this isn’t funny."

When he didn't get a response, Castiel pushed the blankets off of himself and climbed out of bed. He was expecting Dean to jump out at any time to scare him as he walked down the hall, but he made it to the window that overlooked their driveway without incident. Dean's car wasn't parked beside his.

Someone had been touching him, he knew that it wasn’t a dream. There was someone‒something–in the house. There was a loud crash from behind him, but Castiel was too frozen with fear to turn around. As soon as he gathered himself enough, he went quickly down the stairs and out the door. He was still sitting on the porch when Dean got home a few hours later.

“What are you doing out here?” Dean asked, when he got of his car. Castiel stood up and wrapped his arms around him.

“I‒” He couldn’t tell Dean about what happened, he would never believe him. “I was trying to see if I could get Colonel to come inside.”

Dean looked over his shoulder at the dog house at the edge of the yard. It was the closest they get Colonel to the house without him losing his mind, barking and growling, even biting if he had to to get away.

“I don’t know what his problem is,” Dean said. “He’s still eating, right?” Castiel nodded.

“As long as he’s away from the house, he’s fine,” He confirmed.

“That is odd,” Dean murmured. He shrugged and looked back at Castiel. “I’m starved. Let’s go make dinner.”

“Can we go out?” Castiel asked, quickly. “You haven’t taken me out since we moved in. I’m starting feel like you don’t want to be seen with me.”

Dean huffed out a laugh and pulled Castiel in to kiss him. “Go get ready. I have to shower.”

Castiel was apprehensive about going back inside, but he felt safer knowing that Dean was there to protect him, so he followed him inside to get ready the first date they had had in a long time.

~*~

Castiel checked an item off of his grocery list and continued down the aisle with a sigh.

As much as he hated shopping, he hated being alone in the house even more. The place was too big and quiet to be in alone. The constant feeling of being watched and the unexplained noises didn’t help, either. On days when his store was closed or Dean had to work over, he found any excuse to stay out.

He pushed his cart to the next aisle slowly, trying to prolong the trip for as long as possible. Unfortunately, the store only had so many things to look at before before Castiel had no choice but to go to the checkout line.

He was loading the groceries into the trunk of his car when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned and saw a teenage boy standing behind him.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

“Are you the guy that lives in the haunted house?” He asked, quickly. Castiel frowned.

“I don’t think so.”

“The big creepy one outside of town,” The boy said. “Somebody fixed it up and moved in. Was it you?”

“Yes. Why do think it’s haunted?” Castiel questioned.

“I’ve been in there before, on a dare. The place scared the hell out of me, especially since I had just heard about the murders. I felt like I was being watched.”

“What murders?”

“The Hawthorne murders, back in the 1800s. It was pretty gruesome.” A woman’s voice called out and the boy looked over his shoulder. “I’ve gotta go.” He was running off before Castiel could ask him anything else.

The drive home was uncomfortable. Did Dean know? Why would he buy a house that people were murdered in? There was no way that he was that stupid.

When he was home and the groceries were put away, Castiel grabbed his laptop and started researching. He couldn’t find much online about the murders, so he made plans to go to the library and city hall before he opened the store the next day to see if they had anything on file. He looked up when the door opened and Dean walked in.

“Hey, babe,” He said, pulling his dirty overshirt off. “How was your day?”

“It was alright. I went grocery shopping,” Castiel answered. He bit his lip, then blurted out, “Dean, how much do you know about this house?”

“Just that it’s old.” Dean shrugged, then tilted his head. “Why?”

“No reason. I was just wondering if there was anything...special about it.”

“I think if it were special, the original owner would have taken a little better care of it.” He kissed Castiel and went up the stairs. A few minutes later, Castiel heard the shower turn on.

He turned off his laptop and went to start dinner, determined to find out what was really going on.


	6. Chapter 6

Castiel closed his store early the next day and went straight to the library. He walked up to The circulation desk and waited for the librarian there to get off of the phone.  
  
"Can I help you?" She asked, after she put the receiver down.  
  
"I'm looking for some information about the Hawthorne murders? The website said that you had them in your newspaper archives."  
  
"We do. Give me just a second." She called another librarian to cover the desk and led Castiel to one of the back rooms. "I keep saying that we need to get them scanned and put up on the website. A lot of kids write papers on them. Here we are." She pulled some files from the drawer and handed it to him. Castiel thanked her and took a seat at the table.  
  
The earliest dated article was from 1918. It detailed a gruesome murder committed by a man named Alastair Hawthorne. The victim had been cut to bits. They found pieces of him in every room of his house. Castiel felt sick just reading about it. The next paper announced that Hawthorne had escaped from prison, leaving three dead guards in his wake. There were more articles about murders committed after the escape, several about a sort of cult following Hawthorne had inspired and the murders they committed in his honor.

Despite all of those horrors, it was the last article that made his blood run cold.

The police had discovered where Alastair and his hoard of followers had been hiding. They planned to raid the house and either take them into custody or kill every last one of them. When they got there, the walls were painted with blood. Bodies, fresh and decaying were scattered all over the floor. There was screaming coming from one of the back rooms so a group of officers went to investigate. They found Hawthorne, surround by his minions, all dead. Before they could take him into custody, he slit his own throat. Many of the deceased victims were never identified. Alongside a photo of Alastair was a picture of the house that he had been hiding and torturing in. Dean and Castiel’s house.

Castiel put the rest of the articles away and carried the last one to the front desk. “Can I get a copy of this, please?”

“Sure thing. Just a moment.” The librarian took it and returned a few seconds later with the copy. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Castiel didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. He simply shook his head and thanked her for the article and all of her help.

He wasted as much time as he could in town, unwilling to return to the house now that he knew the truth. He went back to his store and straightened the already immaculate shelves. He went over old order forms and bills. He ordered new books and dusted and swifered over the floors. When there was nothing left for him to do, he woke Colonel from the long nap he had been taking all day to put his leash on and took him to the park. He halfheartedly played fetch for an hour before he had no choice but to head home.

Dean was already there when he arrived. He let Colonel out of the car and watched him run to his dog house before pulling the rest of the way up to the house and walking inside. Dean looked up from the paperwork he was doing when Castiel found him in his office.

“Hey, babe,” He said, then looked back down. “You’re running a little late today.”

“Yeah, I went to the library and took Colonel to the park.”

“He probably enjoyed that. We need to do that more often. Maybe next week we can‒”

"Did you know that people were murdered here?" He asked, putting the article on top of his work. Dean frowned and made a noncommittal noise. Castiel stared at him in disbelief. "You knew."

"It was over a hundred years ago, Cas. I didn't think that it actually mattered."

"You didn't think it was important to tell me that before we bought this house?"

"It was a long time ago! We didn't find anything out of the ordinary when we were renovating. It's just a house, Castiel."

“It is not just a house!  A serial killer made a hideout out of this house. He tortured and killed over fifty people here, including himself. It all makes sense now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything that’s been happening! The washing machine, the scratching‒” Dean shook his head.

“Cas, the washing machine hose was loose, that’s where the water came from. The scratching was just the dog or‒”

“Colonel won’t come near this house, Dean. Don’t you think that’s strange? He’s never had a problem with any other building and he follows me everywhere. Why won’t he come in here?”

“Alright, Cas. What’s your theory? That our house is haunted and our dog is afraid of ghosts? Come on.”

Castiel wanted to argue with him. Surely Dean had noticed the strange things that had been happening since they moved in. How could he not have?

“I want to have a psychic come in.” He wasn’t sure where the idea came from, but he was glad that he had it. Dean shook his head again.

“No. No way.”

“Why not?” Castiel demanded.

“Because none of that shit’s real. All you’re doing is paying someone to come in and tell you what you want to hear. It’s a waste of time and money. Money that we don’t have.”

"I'm not staying in this house until I know that there's nothing here!"

"Damn it, Cas. Stop acting up a child! You know that there's nothing here!"

"I'm calling someone whether you like it or not. This is my house, too, and I don't feel safe." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Do whatever the hell you want. But I'm not going to sit here and listen to some idiot spout out a bunch of bullshit just to make you feel better." Castiel watched as Dean stood and grabbed his coat. He stormed out of the room, almost knocking Castiel down in his rush.

"Where are you going?" Castiel demanded.

"Away from here." Dean walked out and slammed the door behind him. Castiel resisted the urge to throw something after him, anger and hurt bubbling in his chest.

After he calmed down a little, Castiel looked through one of their phone books for a psychic. He had never been much a believer before so he had no idea what he should be looking for. As he read over the names, one in particular kept drawing his attention. He took it as a sign and dialed the number, hoping that she was free right then.

About an hour later, Castiel was waiting on the porch when a small, gold sedan pulled into the driveway. A short woman got out of the car and walked up to the porch.

"Missouri Moseley?" He asked. He held out his hand when she nodded. "It's nice to meet you. I'm–"

"I know who are, boy. Now hush up." Castiel stood in quiet shock as she stood on steps, just looking at the house. After a few minutes, she shook her head. "Well, are going to let me in and tell me the problem or are we gonna stand out here all night?"

"Oh," Castiel rushed to open the door and let her in. "I've never done anything like this before. What do I need to do exactly?"

"Just tell me what you've been experiencing and show me where the occurrences happened."

Castiel told her everything. From the first day when he was pushed on the stairs all the way to the day before when the spirit had grabbed him.

"Where is your husband right now?" Missouri asked.

"He went out about an hour before you got here." Castiel hesitated for a moment. "Do you see anything?"

"This house is full of spirits," Missouri confirmed. "Most of them are harmless and scared. Some of them tried to warn you away from here. They were murdered here, in horrible, horrible ways. And there's something else, like an imprint. It's evil. The others are afraid of it."

"Is there anything you can do?" Castiel asked, quietly. He wasn't surprised that there was something in the house, he had known that from the beginning. But having it confirmed and hearing that there was something evil made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"I can bless the house, that should cast all the spirits out.”

“How does that work?” Castiel asked. He had only ever seen things like that on television and they never seemed to work permanently.

“I’ll tell the spirits that they can’t stay here and burn some sage to purify the house.”

“That’s it?”

Missouri gave him a look.  She dipped her chin and angled her head to the side to make sure Castiel knew exactly how annoying that question was to her.

“What did you expect? Speaking in tongues and my eyes rolling back into my head?”

“No, it’s just...that seems kind of easy.”

“It’s more difficult than you may think.” There was something in Missouri’s eyes and tone that gave Castiel the impression that she had experienced some dark things. He decided not to question her again.

While Missouri went to retrieve the sage and several other items she would need, Castiel went around the house and covered all of reflective surfaces he could find. Missouri told him that it would help the spirits cross over easier. When he came back down stairs, he found her standing on a kitchen chair, hanging a horseshoe over the back door.

“Get your hands off of me and cover the oven door,” She snapped when Castiel tried to help her down. “All this stainless steel in here. You’re just asking for the poor souls to be trapped, aren’t you.”

When everything was covered and Missouri had mentally prepared herself and said a blessing of protection, she gave Castiel a glass bottle of water with a golden cross etched onto the front.

“You sprinkle that all over every room that we go into while I cast the spirits out.” Missouri showed him how to dip his fingers into the bottle and sprinkle it around.

“What does it do?” Castiel asked, sniffing at the bottle. “It’s water.”

“It’s holy water. It’s a powerful tool when you’re trying to ward your home. You don’t have to be religious like most people think. As long as the priest that blessed the water has faith, it’ll work. The priest that blessed this for me has the strongest faith that I know. Make sure that the water gets everywhere, in the closets, doorways, the basement, and the attic if you have them, and pray to whatever deity you believe. Me, personally, I pray to God. You ask that all the negativity, in your case, the ghosts leave your home, and find peace for themselves. The water opens your home to blessings while flushing away the ruin.”  

Castiel nodded, somewhat glad that Dean wasn’t there. His husband had said more than once that he didn’t believe in any kind of higher power and Castiel didn’t know how that, added onto his negative attitude, would affect the exorcism.

“Are you ready?” Missouri asked. Castiel took a deep breath and said a silent prayer before nodding.

They started upstairs. Missouri walked around every room with the sage, encouraging the spirits to go into the light as Castiel sprinkled the water like she showed him, silently praying for the spirits as well as himself, Dean, and Missouri.

“You have to cross over now,” Missouri said, slowly waving the sage in front of her. “This is no longer your time. This house belongs to Dean and Castiel now and they want you to leave. Go home to the people that love you. Leave this place.”

Castiel became light headed at one point, stumbling and falling into a wall. Missouri barely spared him a glance, so he guessed that it was a normal occurrence in this kind of ceremony. He used the wall for support and continued with the holy water.

It took several hours, three bundles of sage, and four bottles of holy water to cleanse the whole house and a good portion of the area outside. When they walked back inside after Missouri said a closing prayer, the house felt lighter. Castiel felt like he could breathe again.

“Thank you,” He said, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Missouri said, patting his back, tiredly. Castiel stepped back, realizing that the cleansing had taken a toll on her, too.

“Would you like to sit? I can make coffee, or we have tea.” Missouri wave her hand at him.

“I need to go home and rest,” She said. “You just call me if there’s any further activity.”

“I will. Thank you, again.”

Despite her protest, Castiel insisted on walking Missouri to her car. He wanted to make sure that she was stable enough to drive before letting her get behind the wheel. He hugged and thanked her again then watched as she pulled away from the house.

“Colonel!”

The dog’s ears perked up when Castiel called to him and he started to wag his tail. He came to the edge of where he normally stopped, paused, then trotted over to Castiel. Castiel sank down to his level and hugged him, not even caring if he licked his face.

“Come on, boy,” He said, scratching behind his ears. “Let’s go inside.”

Dean finally returned home a few hours later and found Castiel and Colonel asleep in their bed. He sat on the mattress and the shift of the weight caused Castiel to stir. He smiled when he saw Dean.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Dean leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Me, too,” Castiel murmured. “Take your clothes off and come to bed.”

Dean stripped down to his underwear and slid under the sheets with him. Castiel moved to lay his head on his chest and Dean wrapped his arms around him.  
  
As they drifted to sleep together with Colonel at their feet, the house finally felt like it belonged to them.


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of Colonel's toenails clicking against the floors became regular background noise for Castiel. Ever since his first night in the house, the dog had been trying to find the perfect place to nap, jumping from couch to couch and trying every room until he decided that the sunny spot by the balcony door in Castiel's office and Dean and Castiel's bed were the most suitable.

Things between Dean and Castiel got better, too. They spent more time together since Castiel was no longer afraid to be in the house. Afternoons were spent nestled together on the couch rather than hiding in the bookstore. Castiel had missed being so close to Dean for so long, it felt good to be back in his arms.

About two weeks after the cleansing, Castiel was filling out bills when Dean walked into his office.  
  
"You're home early," Castiel said, smiling at him. He dropped his pen and flexed his  fingers. Dean walked around behind his desk and wrapped his arms around him.  
  
"It was a slow day, plus it's Friday. I thought that we could do something together."  
  
"What did you have in mind?" Castiel asked, tilting his head so that Dean could kiss his neck.  
  
"Dinner, maybe a movie. Then we could come back here and spend the rest of the night in bed."  
  
"That sounds nice," Castiel agreed. "Join me for a shower?"

"Who am I to turn that invitation down?”

After two or three attempts of getting each other clean, only to get dirty again, Dean and Castiel got out of the shower, and got dressed. They put Colonel outside as they walked out, planning to let him run around out there all night so he wouldn’t try to climb into their bed.

They had dinner at a restaurant in town that they used to frequent when they lived in the apartment. Castiel had forgotten how much he loved the atmosphere of the small building, from its warm, intimate interior to its slightly off putting outside walls. After they ate, they walked to a cheap theater downtown that only played B-movies from the 90's. Dean had dragged Castiel there for their second date too see an awful slasher movie and it became a tradition for them.

"That was horrible," Castiel said as they walked out of the movie theater. Dean laughed.

"Right? What was with the tentacles?"

Castiel looped his arms around Dean's neck and him down to press their lips together.

"Thank you for tonight. We needed this." Dean grinned and kissed him again.

"Ready to head home?" He asked, squeezing Castiel's hips. Castiel nodded and they started back to the car. They passed by an old church and someone called out Castiel’s name.

“Missouri,” He said, smiling hugely.

“I thought it was you,” She said, allowing Castiel to hug her. He stepped back and looked at Dean.

“Dean, this is Missouri. She–” Castiel stopped. He knew that Dean knew he called someone about the house, but they hadn’t talked about it. Things were going so well and he didn’t want to ruin the night, so Castiel decided to keep his connection to the psychic to himself. “She’s a friend. Missouri, this is my husband, Dean.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dean said, shaking her hand. Missouri nodded to him, then turned her attention back to Castiel.

“How is everything going?” She asked, picking up on his discomfort.

“Things are great,” He said, hoping that she could sense how grateful he was everything.

“Good.”

Dean squeezed Castiel’s butt, reminding him that they had a plan. Castiel suppressed a squeak and slapped his hand away. “We were just heading home. It was great to see you. And, thank you for everything.”

Missouri nodded again, looking at Dean With an odd expression on her face until the couple walked away.

“That woman was looking at me like she could see right through me,” Dean said, on the way home. “How do you know her?”

“She’s a regular at the bookstore. Sometimes she points out books I should order,” Castiel shrugged. Dean seemed to buy it and dropped the subject.

When they got back to the house, Dean sat on the couch and pulled Castiel into his lap. Castiel smiled against his lips and pressed their hips together, grinding down on Dean, making him moan. The phone rang and Castiel stopped his movements.

“Let it ring,” Dean said, biting at Castiel’s jaw. Castiel pulled his face back over to kiss him again. He started undoing the buttons of Dean’s shirt when the phone started up again.

“ _No._ ” Dean pouted when Castiel shifted off of him.

“I’ll only be a second,” Castiel promised, kissing him again, then going to the kitchen to pick the phone up off of the table. “Hello?”

“Castiel, oh, thank God.”

“Missouri?”

“Shh! Don’t talk, just listen. That is not your husband. There is something dark and evil inside him.”

“What do you mean?” He whispered.

“When I was doing the exorcism, I told you that I felt an imprint, remember? It was so weak because the spirit wasn’t in the house. It’s in your husband. It probably has been since the first time he stepped foot into the house.”

Castiel didn’t want to believe her, but he knew that Missouri wouldn’t lie to him about this. Dean hadn’t been the same since they moved into the house.

“How do I get it out of him?” He whispered.

“You might not be able to,” Missouri told him. “There’s some holy water in your bedroom, I left it there just in case. If you can get it on him or inside of him, that would help. But Castiel, if the spirit knows that you know it’s there, it will stop at nothing to keep you from getting it out of Dean. You have to prepared to defend yourself. Just keep in mind that it’s not your husband anymore. It’s just a shell. Be safe, Castiel.”

“I’ll try.” He hung up the phone and placed it on the table. He stood in the kitchen for a long time, unsure of what to do or believe.

“What’s taking so long?” Dean’s voice called out, causing Castiel to flinch.

“Nothing. Telemarketer wouldn’t take a hint.” Castiel leaned against the doorframe of the living room, trying to look calm and sexy. “I’m going to go put on something that I know you’ll like.”

“The pink ones?” Dean requested. Castiel forced himself to smile and nodded.

“I want you to stay here,” He instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

When he was alone upstairs, Castiel began searching for the holy water, kicking himself for not asking Missouri where she left it. He finally found it in his bedside table.

“You stupid little bitch.”

Castiel spun around when he heard Dean’s voice behind him. His face was dark with anger, his eyes almost black with rage. he stalked forward, crowding Castiel against the wall.

“You just couldn’t leave it alone,” He growled. “You had to get that psychic bitch involved and ruin everything. No more.”

Castiel stumbled back against the wall when Dean’s fist connected with his face. The next hit knocked him to the ground.

“I had hundreds of souls here. Hundreds. I killed them all here for a reason.” Castiel cried out when Dean kicked him in the ribs. “I had power. Satan himself was impressed by me. Then you,” another kick, “had to come along. They’re all gone now, all of them! So I have to start over.”

Despite the beating, Castiel held tight to the bottle in his hand. He struggled with the top as the spirit inside of him used Dean’s hands to hurt him. When he finally got it off, he turned over and flung his arm out, sending the water all over Dean.

Dean jerked away with a shout, releasing Castiel and scrubbing at his skin. Castiel poured some more of the liquid on him before running out of the room and down the stairs.

He knew that he needed to get out of the house, but he couldn’t leave Dean. Not like that. He ran to the kitchen and picked up the phone to call Missouri again. There to be something that they could do for Dean, anything. He hit the redial button, only to discover that the line was dead.

“Cas,” Dean’s voice called from the stairs. Castiel grabbed a knife from the holder on the counter and ran down the hall to the laundry room. He closed the door behind him and sat in the dark, praying to anything that would listen to help them.

“Cas, where are you?” He heard footsteps getting closer. “Come on out, baby, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Dean’s footsteps stopped outside of the door. Castiel braced himself, knowing what he had to do. If there was really nothing left of Dean to save, he had no choice. The light turned on.

“There you are.”

Castiel lunged forward knowing he had to get his Dean back.  

“Get out of my husband,” He commanded brandishing the knife so the demon knew he was serious.  “Get out of him right now, and leave us alone.”  

“Never,” the demon hissed using one of Dean’s sexy smirks, “I like it here.”  

“Get out of him!”  Castiel shouted before sinking the knife into Dean’s stomach.

The next few seconds seemed to drag on for eternity. Castiel could feel Dean’s blood on his hands, but he was too afraid to look at his face. Dean made a horrible choking sound and Castiel jumped back, unsure of what was happening.

“Cas.” Castiel looked toward Dean’s voice. He was looking at the blade in his stomach, then looked to Castiel with confused, scared eyes. He slowly sank to his knees, blood coming out of his mouth.

“Dean,” Castiel fell to his knees by Dean’s side. “Oh, God, Dean, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Dean choked. “It’s gone.” Castiel sobbed, praying to anything that was listening to save Dean. He kissed him one last time, ignoring that taste of blood on his lips.

Castiel cried out in pain when he felt the knife dig into his chest. Dean shoved him away, an evil smirk on his face.

“Gotcha,” The spirit laughed, Dean’s eyes turning black again. “I can’t believe you fell for it. You really are an idiot. But so pretty. Perfect to begin my new collection.”

With the last of his strength, Castiel opened the holy water and threw it all into Dean’s face. The spirit screamed, a horrible, loud screech. Black smoke poured out of Dean’s mouth and he collapsed beside Castiel.

“Cas,” He whispered, weakly, reaching out for him. Their fingers barely brushed together before everything went black.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Sam Winchester looked up at the large Victorian house, hesitant to go inside. He really didn’t want to see the place where his brother and brother-in-law died, but he needed to understand what happened. He took a step forward, then a hand landed on his arm. He looked back and saw a short black woman with a stern face.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

“You don’t want to go in there, Sam.”

“How do you know my name?” Sam asked, pulling away from her.

“We have a lot to talk about,” The woman said. “Come on, I’ll take you to lunch.”

~*~

“You’re telling me that my brother was possessed by a demon.”

Sam was sure that the woman, Missouri, was crazy. Except the double murder conclusion the police had drawn was just as insane. Dean and Castiel had been the couple everyone wanted to be. They had been madly in love for years. Dean was talking about how great things were when Sam last talked to him only a few days before.

“Yes. And it’s still in the house, waiting for a new host.”

“What do I do?” Sam asked.

“I’ve already tried to exorcise it, but it’s too strong. None of the priest or other psychics I know are willing to try. The only thing that I can think to do is to take it’s place of dwelling.”

“Like, burn down the house?” Sam asked. Missouri nodded. “Can I get a few things out first?”

“I’d prefer to get them for you, but yes.” Sam ran a hand through his hair and nodded in agreement. Missouri may be crazy, but Sam knew that Dean would never hurt Castiel of his own free will.

Sam made a list of the things he knew he wanted‒Photo albums, Dean’s jacket, and several other sentimental things that he could remember. He wanted to go in himself, but he didn’t want to risk it if their really was a demon.

While he was waiting for Missouri, Sam looked around the yard. It was definitely beautiful there. He noticed the dog house and realized for the first time since he got the call that the only family he had left was dead that Colonel hadn’t been mentioned at all. He called out for the dog, whistling occasionally, until he came barreling out of the woods.

“Hey, buddy,” He said, kneeling down and rubbing him. Colonel licked his face and Sam pushed his nose away. He led the dog to his car and let him in so that he would be safe during the fire.

“Is this everything?” Missouri asked, coming out of the house with a big box of stuff. Sam looked through it. He nodded when he saw that everything that he wanted was there and put it in the front seat.

“So, how do we do this?” He asked looking to Missouri.

“Accelerant and fire,” She said. She went to her car and got out several bottles of lighter fluid. “Make sure that you get all around the house as best you can.”

Sam nodded and took the bottles. Together they poured the fluid all around the porch and and on the walls. When they were done, they walked a safe distance away and Missouri took out a lighter.

“Would you like to do the honors?” She asked, holding it out to Sam. He took it and flicked it open, watching the flame dance for a second.

“This is for my brothers you son of a bitch,” He said, before throwing the lighter onto the porch. The blaze started quickly and soon the whole house was engulfed.

Missouri nudged Sam and they got in their cars. Missouri would call the fire department when she was sure that the house was too far gone to be saved.

They met up again at the cemetery outside of town. Sam arrived first and let Colonel out of the car. The dog trotted over to the fresh dirt of Dean and Castiel's graves and let out a soft whine.

"I know, buddy," Sam said, kneeling down beside him. "I miss them, too."

He wiped his face and stood up when Missouri's car pulled up beside his.

"Why are we here?" He questioned when she joined them.

"I come by every so often to make sure that there are no tenants wandering around," Missouri told him. Sam nodded.

"Do you see any now?" Missouri shook her head, answering the question that Sam didn't want to say outloud.

"No, Dean and Castiel are at peace." Sam nodded, half grateful and half wishing that he had a chance to say goodbye.

"Thank you for everything," He said, holding his out to the woman. Missouri took it and squeezed, her fingers warm around his.

"I wish I could have done more."

"If Dean was really as far gone as you said, I'm glad it turned out this way. I'd rather him be here than to him on the news or something and not understand." Missouri nodded.

"Take care, Sam."

"You, too." He whistled for Colonel and the dog came to him, his ears tucked against his head. He let him I to the car again and waved one final time at Missouri before driving away.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [to drag on for eternity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5766985) by [ideare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideare/pseuds/ideare)




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